1. Fears of a weak crowd were overblown

This wasn't the sellout crowd of past Memphis Madness events, but there was no shame in the number of people that showed up to FedExForum Thursday night. Though the upper deck was curtained off, every section of the lower bowl was nearly full and the fans were enthusiastic throughout.

Coach Tubby Smith noted that it was the largest crowd he had seen at an event like this since his days at Kentucky.

"We're trying to make sure this program grows and prospers," Smith said. "And tonight was a great start for us to re-energize the fan base and get people excited."

2. Plenty of notable recruits and alumni showed up

Memphis Madness is also supposed to be a recruiting tool for the Tigers, and there were several notable prospects in the stands at FedExForum.

The most important attendee was 2018 Cordova point guard Tyler Harris, who took an official visit to Memphis this past weekend. He sat directly behind Smith's wife, Donna, and the Tigers are hopeful he will commit to Memphis in the coming days.

Another intriguing visitor was East star Alex Lomax, the other 2018 point guard Memphis has been seriously recruiting. He sat a few rows behind Harris in the stands.

Joining Lomax in the crowd was East teammate and 2019 big man recruit Malcolm Dandridge. Chandler and Jonathan Lawson, the younger brothers of former Memphis standouts Dedric and K.J. Lawson, and 2019 wing Antavion "Dude" Collum also came to Thursday night's event.

Other notable faces included former Memphis star and current Grizzlies guard Tyreke Evans, who judged the dunk contest along with Andre Turner, Willie Gregory and Tayshaun Prince. Prince, who is currently serving as a special assistant to Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace, starred for Smith at Kentucky.

Grizzlies guard Andrew Harrison was also in the building along with Memphis football players Anthony Miller and Doroland Dorceus.

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Memphis senior Jimario Rivers won the Memphis Madness dunk contest by leaping over a team manager.
Mark Giannotto/The Commercial Appeal

3. Kareem Brewton and David Nickelberry stood out

It's hard to draw too much from an intrasquad scrimmage that featured "absolutely no defense," Smith joked afterwards. But both guard Kareem Brewton and freshman David Nickelberry showed off skill sets Thursday night that should translate when the real games begin next month.

Brewton led all scorers with at least 10 points and much of it came knifing into the lane and finishing at the basket with a combination of floaters and lay-ins. His quickness off the dribble and ball-handling ability jumped off the court. He seems to be the leader in the race to start alongside point guard Jeremiah Martin in the Tigers' backcourt this year.

"We knew he was a scorer," Smith said of Brewton. "He really has a great feel for the game. I think he and Jeremiah really complement each other...That's why we recruited him. He has a real motor. He goes real hard. He's going to give you 100 percent every time he hits the court. He was impressive tonight, and that's what we needed from him — that scoring because we lost a lot of scoring. He can create not only his own shot, but can create shots for other people."

Nickelberry, meanwhile, flashed the sort of passing skills coaches have been raving about since he signed with the Tigers last year. Almost as soon as the scrimmage began, he started a fast-break with a side-armed pass through traffic. Later on, he drove into the lane and then flicked a no-look pass over his shoulder into the corner to set up guard Malik Rhodes with a wide open 3-pointer.

Memphis didn't keep official stats, but Nickelberry lived up to the preseason hype he'd been generating.

"David Nickelberry is very talented as far as his size and being able to see the floor the way he does and distribute the ball," Smith said. "He's a very willing passer. When you're that big and you can see over people, he can play anywhere from one to four or five on our team because he's that versatile. ... I can see his confidence is growing and he can contribute a lot."

4. This could be a better shooting team than at first glance

At least on Thursday, Memphis appeared to have more capable shooters on its roster than originally thought.

To begin with, freshman Jamal Johnson got the crowd going with a scintillating performance in the 3-point shooting contest. He scored 24 of a possible 30 points to win the event.

Point guard Jeremiah Martin struggled in the 3-point shooting contest, but showed off an improved stroke during the intrasquad scrimmage. He hit a game-high three 3-pointers, including a pretty step-back jumper from the corner.

Forwards Kyvon Davenport, Jimario Rivers and Nickelberry all also hit 3-pointers in the scrimmage. Smith then praised Brewton's shooting this preseason during his post-event press conference.

In addition, 6-foot-9 forward Mike Parks, Jr. took part in the 3-point shooting contest. Though he didn't make many shots, he appeared comfortable shooting from outside.

5. Tubby Smith doesn't care what the critics think...and he can dance

Smith was asked about the negativity coming from the local media this offseason and insisted, "it's never affected me." He then launched into a defense of what he and his staff have done since coming to Memphis.

"I never understood it, number one," Smith said of the criticism. "What was so bad about winning 19 games when we were picked to finish [fifth] in the league last year? Now, we're picked to finish low this year, next to the bottom or last in the league, but you can see ... we really helped ourselves with our size, our depth, with our athleticism."

As for the dancing, well that might have been the most entertaining portion of Thursday's event. Just watch this video:

"I’m going to have to take a lot of aspirin tonight," Smith said. "My knees are going to be killing me after doing ‘The Quan.’ ... I grew up in a family of 12 sisters, so I was a featured dancer usually. I was dancing with the stars before that show even came out.”